Improvement in sewing-machines



3- Sheets-Sheet L C. B. RICHARDS.

Sewing Machine.

Patented March 5 1861.

N wmww 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. C. B. RICHARDS.

Sewing Machine.

- No. 31,625. Patented March 5, 1861.

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I F, H III V n Z07 /yMMw/y I 0677/ a C. B. RICHARDS.

Sewing Machine.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

No. 31,625. Patented March 5, I861.

UNITED STATES PATENT Oriucn.

O. B. RICHARDS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWlNG-MACHlNES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 3l,625, dated March 5, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O. B. RICHARDS, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sewing-Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanyingdrawings, form ing part of this specification, and to the letters I of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to that kind of sewingmachines in which a reciprocating shuttle is used, and lies in a mode of imparting to the needle and shuttle their proper relative movemen ts. To insure the correct working of such aforesaid sewing-machines, it is quite essential thatthe needle should pause'orriseveryslightly while the shuttle-is passing through the loop of the upper thread, so that the said loop may not be made too large by their combined motion. It is also desirable that the shuttle should occupy butlittle time in passing through the needles loop, in order that the needle may have longer time to complete its ascent and return. These results have hitherto been effected principally by the use of rotary camgrooves, and also by crank-pins working in irregularly-shaped or cam grooves; but such use of grooves having irregular curvature is objectionable, on account of the unequal wear to which their differently-curved parts are subjected, and because of their consequent noisiness.

It is the object of my said invention to produce thecorrect movements of both needle and shuttle without the use of cams or their like, and by a simple device the parts of which may he so constructed that compensation can be made for their wear.

To these ends my said invention consists in the employment of a vibrating or rocking shuttle drjvin g lever operated by a crank and slide, or their respective equivalents, in combination with a pin, or an equivalent therefor, which is carried by the said slide toward and away from the center of movement of the rocking shuttle-lever, when, in a manner hereinafter described, the needle derives from the said pin its motion, the characteristics of which are hereinafter clearly set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed'to a description thereof.

In the annexed drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sewing-machine illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 shows a front view of the same.

Similar letters of reference denote the same part in both the aforesaid figures, to which figures the immediately following description exclusively refers, in which A is the needle-arm, which is pivoted at a and extends below its fulcrum, forming the arm A. fis the needle.

B is a lever pivoted at b, and hearing at itsupper end the shuttle s; or it may drive the same in a raceway. This lever B receives a vibratory motion from a crank-pin, c, by means of a slide, D, in the upper end of which the crank-pin c has its bearing. The slide D is guided in a radial slot extending from end to end of the lever B. The circular path of the crank-pin c is indicated by the dot-line m m and its direction of motion by arrows. The slide D carries at its lower end a pin, 0, and is of such length that when the crank-pin c is at that part of its path nearest the center of vibration Z) of the lever B, the position of the pin 0 will nearly coincide with the said center I). The path of the pin eis indicated by the blue line n n and the direction of its motion by arrows. From the pin e the needlef receives motion through a connecting-link, G, hinged to the extremity of the arm A. in When the shuttle-driving lever B is about to commence its forward motion (that being the position indicated by Figs. 1 and 2) the arm A is nearly parallel with B and the link Gr, forming nearly equal angles with A and B. The positions of the parts being as indicated, the rotation of the crank-pin will cause the shuttles point to approach the needle, which will rise slowly, throwing out a loop, through which the shuttle then shoots, during which time the needle rises very slowly, once nearly pausing, because the pin eis then pushed down into a slow moving part of the lever B, near which it lingers for some time, on account of the crank then being, as it were, on its dead, center relatively to the said pin 0. Afterthe shuttle has passed through the loop the needle rises quickly, (the pin 0 being then drawn up into a rapidly-moving part of lever B,) and it descends without retardation. The shuttle returns much more slowly than it moved forward, giving ample time for the needle to ffinish its rise and to descend.

Fig. 3 is a diagram, which will more clearly explain the relative motions of the shuttle and needle, in which the same numerals denote corresponding positions of the crank-pin c, the shuttles point 8, and the end a of the needle. arm lever A.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of my invention, showing only the parts necessary for its explanation, wherein B is a shuttle-bearing lever driven by the crank-pin 0, bearing in the slide D, which is in this case curved, its slidingsurfaces being arcsof circles. The said slide carries a pin, e, the path of which is indicated by a blueline, n n. G is a link for transmitting motion to the needle-bar arm. By this'latter arrangement more time is afforded for the needle to complete its ascent after the shuttle has passed-the needle.

Fig. 5 illustrates a mode of forming and guiding the slide D, and of forming the bearings for the pins 0 and c. tive motions of the parts do not vary essentiall y from the first-described arraggement; but it affords facilities for providing adjustments to take up the wear of the surfaces of the slide and the bearings of the pins 0 and e. The back edge of the slide is hooked ever behind a flange, b, on the front edge of the shuttle-lever A, and is thus guided on the said 1ever. v

In all the modifications of myinvention herein described, the proportions and relative positions of the parts may be varied to some ex- In this plan the relatent, and still a movement of the needle sufficiently correct for practical purposes will be obtained; but these modifications will comewithin the scope of my said invention so long as the pin 0, from which the motion of the needle is derived, is at the proper time carried down intoapartofthelever B, which moves so slowly that thereby a retardation of the needles motion is efl'ected after the said needle has commenced its ascent.

Having thus described my invention, I disclaim as new the driving the shuttle by acrankpin operating a slotted lever when uncombined with substantially the means herein described for producing the specified movement of the needle; but

What I claim as my invention, and :desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The employment of a rocking-shuttle driving-lever operated by a crank and slide, or their respective equivalents, in the manner set forth, in combination with a pin or its equivalent attaehed to said slide and driving the needle-arm, substantially in the manner hereinbeforc described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of December, 1860.

G. B. RICHARDS.

In presence of- HORACE ANDREWS, 4 GEO. D. SARGEANT. 

